Rating: 3.5/5
Anti-Criterion Challenge 2024 | 4/52 | 1940’s
A man screams. Brandon and Phillip, their gloved hands pulling a rope around David’s neck, strangling him to death. They put the man in a chest.
Brandon is cheerful. In his eyes, they committed an immaculate murder. He grabs the champagne he put on ice just before David’s arrival.
Phillip is distraught. He regrets killing David and voices that he wishes he’d killed Brandon instead. Afraid of Brandon’s charm.
To add to the exhilaration, they throw a dinner party in the apartment with David’s body. David’s parents and fiancée, Janet, will attend. Also, Janet’s ex, Kenneth.
Brandon dresses the chest as a table and has dinner on top of it.
— We agreed that there is one crime we could commit. The crime of making a mistake. Of being weak. — Because it's being human? — Because it's being ordinary.
But we quickly learn just how moronic Brandon is. If not that, then Phillip’s weak nerves will give them away.
Last to arrive is Rupert, but not before several minutes dedicated to discussing his cunning and aversion to social mores. Rupert is also a big fan of murder, thinking of it as art.
Once Rupert enters, Brandon goes weak in the knees. Rupert easily humiliates Brandon and calls to attention all of the weirdness in his party. His conversations with the dinner guests stoke his curiosity.
Phillip is in love with Brandon and follows him in fearful adoration. Brandon is in love with himself and flourishes it in front of everyone. Rupert is, at best, a means of accenting his perceived brilliance.
James Stewart is bizarre. His character is an odd combination of murder enthusiast and clever interrogator. Draining him of charm doesn’t do the movie any favors, but Stewart still makes it work.
Joan Chandler is wonderful, and Janet is the only character that is recognizably human. It’s a pity she made so few movies.
The filmmakers shot several takes, knitting some scenes with clever edits (aka zooming into someone’s back). It draws far too much attention to itself and is the weakest part of the movie by far.
The remaster has an upscaled fps, leading to distracting bleeds, artifacts, and dropped frames throughout.
Janet calls Phillip queer for not eating chicken.
My favorite background lines are two people discussing Brandon:
— I believe he's a Scorpio — I know exactly what you mean
It took me most of the movie to warm up to it, but I enjoyed the last 20 minutes enough.